00WHAT THE FUTSAL LAWS SAY

Small ball,
quick feet.

An empty indoor sports hall with a polished wooden floor, painted court lines and a small futsal goal at one end — AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.

Futsal is football's indoor, five-a-side cousin with its own rulebook.

FIFA publishes separate Futsal Laws of the Game. The ball is smaller and bounces less, the floor is hard and flat, the clock stops, and restarts must be taken within four seconds.

5 v 5on a hard courtUpdated 17 October 2026

Check a rule

01Principles

Ball on the floor
Restart in four seconds
Clock stops with play
A game built for touches

02THE SHORT ANSWER

Same goal,
different game.

Futsal keeps the idea of football
but changes the ball, the court and the clock.

THE BALL

Smaller and heavier for its size

The futsal ball measures 62 to 64 cm round and weighs 400 to 440 g. Dropped from 2 m, its first bounce must be between 50 and 65 cm.

Check a rule

RESTARTS

Kick it in, quickly

When the ball crosses the touchline it is kicked back in, not thrown. The FA's guide says restarts must be taken within four seconds.

How to start

THE CLOCK

Twenty minutes that really count

A match is two periods of 20 minutes of playing time, timed with a stopping clock, and each team gets one one-minute timeout per period.

See the numbers

03A QUICK RULE CHECK

What happens
when...

Pick a moment in a match to see what the futsal rules say. The bar shows how far the rule differs from the 11-a-side game.

Based on FIFA's Futsal Laws of the Game 2025-26 and The FA's Playing Futsal: Getting Started guide. Competitions can set some details in their own rules.

Rule check

Choose a momentA penalty is givenA coach wants a changeThe ball goes out at the sideA team commits its sixth foulA player is sent off

A penalty is givenSpot at 6 m

A penalty is taken from the penalty mark, 6 m from the midpoint between the goalposts. The goal itself is 3 m wide and 2 m high.

A coach wants a changeRoll on, roll off

An unlimited number of substitutions may be made, at any time except during a timeout, through the team's own substitution zone, without asking the referees.

The ball goes out at the sideKick-in

Play restarts with a kick-in from the touchline. The FA's guide says the ball must be still on the line and the player has four seconds to take it.

A team commits its sixth foulFree shot from 10 m

From the sixth accumulated foul in a half, the opponents get a direct free kick with no defensive wall, taken from the 10 m mark or from where the foul happened if that is closer to goal.

A player is sent offTwo minutes short

The player cannot return. A substitute may come on after two minutes of playing time, or earlier if the team with more players scores, under the conditions set out in Law 3.

Sources: FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game 2025-26 (Laws 1, 3, 7 and 14); The FA, Playing Futsal: Getting Started (four-second rule, kick-ins, accumulated fouls).

04TWO NUMBERS WORTH KNOWING

More time
on the ball.

One count from The FA's coaching team,
one from a Spanish study of young players.

495 touches

Ball touches in a 20-minute under-9s futsal game

The FA counted every action in a 5v5 under-9s game on a 30 by 20 m pitch, with the ball in play half the time. That was 155 more touches than a 3v3 game they analysed and 33 more than a 7v7.

TOUCHES · THE FA BOOT ROOM

1.66 vs 0.9

Ball contacts measured in futsal vs football

A study of 62 futsal and 108 football players aged 8 to 14 found significantly more contacts with the ball in futsal in every age group, with no significant difference in heart rate.

CONTACTS · REV. INT. DEPORTES COLECTIVOS 2019

The FA's count comes from one observed game and is meant as a coaching guide, not a controlled trial. The Spanish study measured players during a training match.

05FOUR WAYS TO GET STARTED

You need less
than you think.

The FA's getting-started guide says futsal can be played almost anywhere at a recreational level, as long as you keep the core ingredients.

Find a hard, flat floor
A school or community sports hall with a wooden or smooth synthetic floor is ideal. The FA says not to play on grass or artificial turf.
Use a proper futsal ball
The FA recommends a size 3 ball for players under 12 and a size 4 ball from age 13. A normal football changes the game.
Mark the court
Tape lines or flat disc markers are enough. For recreational play the FA suggests at least 25 m by 15 m, with 2 m of run-off.
Play the restarts
Kick-ins instead of throw-ins, four seconds to restart and 5 m for defenders at set pieces keep the game quick.

A player's indoor trainer next to a ball placed still on the touchline, ready for a kick-in — AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.

06THE COURT

Measured in metres,
not yards.

A futsal ball resting on a smooth sports hall floor beside a painted white line — AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.

For international matches a futsal pitch is 38 to 42 m long and 20 to 25 m wide. For other matches the laws allow anything from 25 to 42 m long and 16 to 25 m wide, as long as the touchline is longer than the end line.

The goals are 3 m wide and 2 m high, and must not be fixed to the floor. The penalty area is drawn as quarter circles with a 6 m radius from each post, and a second mark sits 10 m from goal for free kicks after the sixth foul.

07Questions

Questions people ask

Is futsal just five-a-side football?

Not quite. The FA describes futsal as having its own core ingredients: marked lines so the ball can go out, a futsal ball, futsal goals, the futsal laws and a hard surface. FIFA publishes separate Futsal Laws of the Game.

Why does a futsal ball bounce less?

The laws require it. Dropped from 2 m, a futsal ball's first bounce must be no lower than 50 cm and no higher than 65 cm. The FA says futsal balls are smaller and denser than a normal football.

How long is a futsal match?

Two equal periods of 20 minutes of playing time, unless competition rules allow less. The FA notes that the clock is stopped whenever the ball goes out of play or there is a stoppage.

How many substitutes can a team use?

Substitutions are unlimited and can be made at any time except during a timeout. In official competitions a maximum of nine substitutes may be used in a match.

Can the goalkeeper leave the penalty area?

Yes. The FA's guide says goalkeepers may come out of the area, must throw the ball out at a restart, and cannot control the ball for more than four seconds in their own half.

08Sources

Small ball,
quick feet.